Jamie Roberts's first match against Australia was a landmark day for Welsh rugby.

For November 29, 2008 was the last time Wales beat one of the southern-hemisphere big three.

It was Roberts’s seventh cap but the centre lasted only 15 minutes after a clash with Stirling Morlock forced him off. He then watched from the sidelines as Wales claimed only their third victory over the southern hemisphere’s leading trio since the game turned professional in 1995.

Wales have since lost nine consecutive times to the Wallabies while a late penalty try on the tour of South Africa in the summer gave the hosts a 31-30 victory and consigned the tourists to a 20th straight defeat against Australia, the Springboks and New Zealand.

“It’s frightening isn’t it?” said Roberts as he prepares to face Australia at the Millennium Stadium on Saturday. “History’s against us having not beaten one of them since 2008.

“This Welsh group have been together for the last three or four years — we’ve got guys with 40 to 50 caps under our belts — and it’s time to deliver.”

Wales’s squad have had a brutal two-week training camp that some of his peers, although not Roberts, have described as the toughest ever.

The management hope that by pushing the players to their limits they will be able to remain focused in the latter stages of draining Tests and avoid the last-minute slips that have been part of their recent history. Two years ago, Wales led Australia 12-9 with 30 seconds to go when Kurtley Beale nipped over for a try to silence the Cardiff crowd and snatch a 14-12 win.

There is a sense in the camp that Wales can finally overcome their hoodoo but Roberts says they are thinking bigger.

“It’d be nice to win but it’s not a case of just winning one or two, we want to win all four matches,” he said with games to follow this month against Fiji, New Zealand and South Africa.

Wales start the match with seven of the players in the XV that begun the Lions’ deciding Third Test against Australia last year, when the tourists clinched the series with a 41-16 trouncing.

And the Wales camp have spent the week trying to dispel suggestions that they have a mental block when it comes to playing rugby’s big three.

“I don’t think what’s happened in the past has any effect on this game,” said Roberts. “The great thing about rugby is that we have another chance, another 80 minutes to prove ourselves and not just 79 minutes as has so often been the case in the past.”

Roberts plays alongside fellow Lion George North, more accustomed to the wing, in a relatively untried and untested midfield partnership. It is unlikely to be little more than a temporary pairing with Jonathan Davies expected to return at No13 when recovered from his shoulder injury.

Saturday’s match is 11 months before Wales face Australia in their final World Cup pool match.

“A lot of people see this match as a trial for that World Cup game and obviously we want to get one over them — it’d be a psychological boost for us,” said Roberts. “The World Cup’s a big focus. That 2011 semi-final defeat [9-8 to France] remains one of the biggest regrets of my career.”